Tag: Best small and medium business CRM software

Tends In Customer Support To Look For In 2020

Loss of customers and revenue are the inevitable results of poor customer support, and so implementing new methodologies and trends helps to boost revenue. Therefore without ado here are the latest customer trends that you must look for in 2020.

Loss of customers and revenue are the inevitable results of poor customer support, which leads to loss in business growth and so implementing new methodologies and trends helps to boost revenue.

93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies who offer excellent customer service. Click To Tweet

Therefore without ado here are the latest customer trends that you must look for in 2020:

Trend #1

True Omnichannel Experience

Potential leads and customers find your offerings on any number that are available to them nowadays.
Hence, offering your potential leads and customers the ability to continue their customer journey between different devices and platforms will be of utmost importance in 2020.
In fact, the multichannel experience that customers presently know is a significant step-up from the erstwhile single-channel experience.
Nevertheless, as multichannel tends to be siloed nowadays it allows interactions between several platforms but inhibits the continued journey between one to the next.

Therefore, in 2020 businesses is more likely to hold on a customer throughout their journey by incorporating an omnichannel experience that ensures identifying and implementing all of the platforms potentially used by their customers that is sure to boost up customer service ratings.

Trend #2

Connect Through Social Media

Using social media platforms for boosting engagements in marketing is nothing new. Nevertheless, it may be news to you that in 2020 you should no longer focus on numerous social media platforms, but rather scale them down to the ones that make more sense for your type of business, which will let you spend more quality time on the few chosen platforms rather than lose sight of engagements on some of your many platforms on the list.

For this try to evaluate your target audience and engage with them in their preferred media. Try to understand whether your audiences respond more to images, videos or texts.

Get engaged with your prospective leads and customers often and do not forget to thank them for their feedback.

Additionally, apologize to your customers and prospects for any negative experience and provide them with enhanced support.

Remember, doing so not only your unhappy customers will always remain grateful for what you did but your other customers once they see that cared enough for your unhappy customer will trust your support that they need right on your social media platforms.

Trend #3

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is getting more smarter every day. Hence, in 2020 look to implement AI in as many of the customer interactions you have. Nowadays AI assistants are changing the way we live our lives with Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri.
Hence in 2020 using AI to automate customer support processes will help businesses considerably, whereby brands should automate some of the customer-facing interactions that will help them exponentially.

Trend #4

Machine Learning

In 2020 data-driven customer service will be much more prevalent than ever before. This is because nowadays machines are becoming more efficient to ‘learn’ fro data using algorithms that are increasingly getting more competent in understanding how to connect with the customers better and thereby help customer service teams to make better decisions that aids in business growth.

Once considered prohibitively for SMB organizations customer service Chatbots are one of the intelligent outcomes of Machine Learning and can now be easily integrated even in most best small and medium business CRM software platforms.

Additionally, real-time data that are needed for Machine Learning can also help in the detection and prevention of fraud in businesses.

Trend #5

Internet of Things (IoT)

It is predicted that IoT is going to help drive sales and support activities much more efficiently in 2020. This is because according to a study published by Statista it has been predicted that there will be more than even 30 billion connected devices installed worldwide this year which is twice as many as it was in 2015.

Therefore, businesses must not underestimate the importance of IoT this year, as business growth technology solutions are trying to leverage all and any connected products to enhance the customer experience, which is becoming more important than ever.

Trend #6

Remote Customer Support Representatives

With all the cutting-edge technologies that we have in hand as we enter 2020, there will be a trend more towards remotely locating customer support representatives in all businesses.

This is because with the growth of this trend companies are becoming increasingly capable of saving their employers money on office space and on higher salaries that are required for big cities across the globe by hiring employees who can work from the convenience of their own homes.

In fact, this trend will not only attract more recruits but will also provide organizations a much larger pool to choose from.

Tend #7

Real-time Support

Nowadays with customer support reps potentially available 24/7 which can be accessed from anywhere across the globe and with the previously mentioned Chatbot technologies that can be at present even integrated into the best small business CRM software platforms, there is a need for emphasis on real-time support in several different formats.

Therefore, it can be predicted that real-time support will likely boost up conversion rates in 2020 with faster response time and quicker resolution of issues.

Trend #8

Live Video

It also can be assumed that 2020 will see a rise of live video streams which will help businesses to reach out to more people on social media channels which in turn will increase the brand’s visibility. Live videos can be used for the promotion of contests, webinars, product giveaways and more.
Hence businesses this year will find more options to announce in advance or just go live whenever they want, which in turn will encourage followers of different brands to pay attention to their brand’s social media platforms.

Trend #9

Personalized Content

Personalization will be more important than ever in 2020, with the growing trend of less human contact and more automated interactions in businesses.

Luckily, this will be easier than ever to accomplish with the assistance of AI technology whereby in 2020 personalized content will look more like targeted advertisements that are well aware of the customer’s name, gender, location, and even their likes and dislikes.

Trend #10           

Predictive Analytics

Both with robust CRM software solutions like Salesforce and with solutions like best CRM for small business establishments and startups predictive analytics will be called upon much more frequently this year.

This is because with predictive analytics helping businesses to foretell their customer outcomes, brands will be able to provide world-class customer service to the consumers of their offerings.

Predictive analytics will even help businesses to discover issues even before they arise, and alleviate those problems, by running hundreds of scenarios based on data they already have in their easy to use CRM platforms to provide proactive and personalized service to the customers.

Takeaway

Finally, with all the security breaches in the news, the security of customer data is going to be extremely important in 2020.

In all businesses, customers provide a lot of information when they buy your offerings. Hence both CRM for enterprises and even the best CRM software for SMB organizations will ensure that the customer data in their business growth technology solutions are locked up tightly that will enhance the trust of the customers for their businesses.

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Why Use CLM CRM For Implementing A Customer-Centric Strategy For Your SMB

There is nothing new about customer-centric organizations. This is because ever since the creation of the Customer Lifetime Management CRM technology or CLM CRM software, the thought that all product decisions should be related back to the customer is like a no-brainer. Nevertheless, this idea feels as vague and unappreciated as ever, as most of us just offer mere lip service to it but do not always honor what we preach. Therefore, it is high time that we must begin thinking of customer-centricity as an objective and not just a principle and better use CLM CRM to enhance the customer lifetime with your brands.

There is nothing new about customer-centric organizations.  This is because ever since the creation of the Customer Lifetime Management CRM technology or CLM CRM software, the thought that all product decisions should be related back to the customer is like a no-brainer. Nevertheless, this idea feels as vague and unappreciated as ever, as most of us just offer mere lip service to it but do not always honor what we preach.

When you create a customer-focused company, you create products or services that your customer enjoys and so wants to repeat that experience again. - Nucleus Research Click To Tweet

Therefore, it is high time that we must begin thinking of customer-centricity as an objective and not just a principle and better use CLM CRM to enhance the customer lifetime with your brands.

What is CLM in a CRM?

Plainly speaking by the books Customer Lifecycle in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a term used that describes the succession of steps a customer goes through when taking into consideration, buying, using, and thereafter upholding their loyalty to a company’s products or services.

Hence, although you and your employees are always pushing yourselves hard to satisfy your customer’s needs, nevertheless being customer-centric requires taking actions, rather than simply making a desire to appear conscientious.

Why is customer-centricity so important?

Keeping buzzwords and business jargon aside, irrespective of whether you are a user of CLM CRM, customer-centricity makes sense in this present digital world.

According to Bill Macaitis, CMO/CRO of Slack:

“The voice of the customer so far has never so strong as it has been now with the growth of social….businesses are increasingly acknowledging the power of word-of-mouth marketing strategies today, and how that starts and ends by providing a great experience for the customers. ”

But how does this translate in the scenarios of our real world? Let us look at the plea from Randy Garutti CEO of Shake Shack to his employees:

“I would like to challenge you to put our company out of its business…because we are so damn generous with what we offer the people who walk in through this door.”

Therefore, his words illustrate a bigger effort to empower his staff to do whatever it takes to build optimal customer experience. Rather it is just not, giving a ladle of custard to an unruly crying kid.

Hence, the big picture is when you create a customer-focused company, you create products or services that your customer enjoys and so wants to repeat that experience again. Customer centricity, therefore, looks at the lifetime value of the customer using different metrics found in CLM CRM, which increases customer satisfaction and reduces churn rate over a period of time.

Common pitfalls of customer-centricity

Now, if acting customer-centric is so easy and understandable, why then it is so challenging?

There are three major challenges in being customer-centric that Forrester sited in their Vendor Landscape report (2015):

Lack of clarity: Not all in an organization understands the definition of the experience that their company is willing to deliver to its customers.

Failure to affect company culture: No organization can implement a customer-centric culture in an organization without embedding it in all parts of the establishment.

Loss of interest: Cultural transformation is not the end goal; rather employees need to practice customer-centricity with unsuppressed intentions and focus that should be a perennial process and not just as a temporary fad.

The biggest issue with customer-centricity is that cannot be classified as a singular project. Since being customer-centric is a collection of all the actions and activities that an organization performs- right from mundane everyday decisions to company-wide initiatives.

How can you implement a customer-centric strategy?

Therefore how can you make the practices in your business reflect all about the customer in this consumer-obsessed market?

So underneath are a few researched tips to make your business more customer-oriented in this present world:

  1. Truthfully consider that the customer always comes first

You cannot fake caring about your customers; you need to employ passionate and genuine employees who want to view your business through your customer’s eyes. For this, you need to make your company’s core value the heart of any onboarding practice, and continually support your commitment to these tenets.

  1. Measure the customer experience

It is important that you must always measure the success of your customer-centric in order to practice what you are preaching to your employees in your organization. Using a CLM CRM software platform, you can gauge your rate of churn and even NPS (Net Promotion Score) as a baseline.

NPS is calculated and measured in one simple and straightforward question: Would you recommend this company to a relative or friend?

  1. Let feedback drive your improvement

Once you are gauging your customer’s experience and going after your customer’s ever-changing desires and needs, let that feedback lead to real changes in your products, services, and your company.

Conclusion

Businesses are not going to shut down this customer-centric trend anytime soon, so what does that signify for consumers and their competitors?

Well, it implies more of digital marketing (including interactive materials like blogs, newsletters, eBooks, and videos), and automated marketing, with the help of business growth technology like CLM CRM software solutions, which can be even found in best small and medium business CRM software platforms for SMBs.

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Tips to Turn Your Easy To Use CRM Into a Money Making Machine

It is needless to say that if you know what is CRM and is using a robust and enterprise-level CRM like Salesforce or other Salesforce Alternative CRM which are mostly used by SMB organizations, a business growth technology like an easy to use CRM is always a smart investment. Hence everyone wants a positive return out of it, whereby businesses invest their money in easy to use CRM expecting a positive effect on their business (maybe even to increase their money by multiple folds). Nevertheless, several people forget that even before expecting your CRM to become a game-changer and money-making machine for your company, there are a few things that you need to take care of to make this business growth technology perform at its best.

It is needless to say that if you know what is CRM and is using a robust and enterprise-level CRM like Salesforce or other Salesforce Alternative CRM which are mostly used by SMB organizations, a business growth technology like an easy to use CRM is always a smart investment.

Every dollar spent on CRM implementation returns as much as $8.71 in sales revenue - Nucleus Research (2014) Click To Tweet

Hence everyone wants a positive return out of it, whereby businesses invest their money in easy to use CRM expecting a positive effect on their business (maybe even to increase their money by multiple folds).

Nevertheless, several people forget that even before expecting your CRM to become a game-changer and money-making machine for your company, there are a few things that you need to take care of to make this business growth technology perform at its best.

Therefore here are few tips on how you can make the most of this cutting-edge technology and turn your easy to use CRM into a money-making machine which predicts phenomenal revenue growth:

Information is Gold

Irrespective of which CRM you use be it Salesforce or any Salesforce Alternative CRM platform, how complicated or easy you think it is, there is no denying the fact, that CRM software presents to you a database which you might as well consider to have its value in gold.
In other words, a CRM consists of the information related to hundreds and thousands of leads and customers and is nothing less than a Black Friday jackpot that aids in the systematical arrangement of that data in one place.

Hence if you make the right use of this data stored in the CRM database, there is so much more you can do and achieve with this software tool.

Now if you will look a little deep and put on your thinking cap, you will realize that once you adopt an easy to use CRM software for your business it is far more easier to go after the customers with unique demands, and proactively remain in touch with your prospective leads at their proffered time or even keep all your sales, marketing, and support teams remain up-to-date with the latest things happening in your company.

The trick over here is to make someone from your teams responsible for managing all the data, someone who should be the one who should be trained even to take up necessary steps if any data issue or compliance is found in the software.

Still, You Are Using Spreadsheets?

Contrary to popular beliefs by many, everything that can be performed on a spreadsheet can be also accomplished in a CRM, and for that matter a lot better than a spreadsheet too.

Hence, if you are still living in the past and is using the age-old way of managing all your customer data using spreadsheets, just imagine how much time you are killing that you could have utilized in better ways for boosting your sales revenue and business growth.

Therefore, set your database once, and then enjoy everything that an easy to use CRM can do for you which even includes finding automated insightful reports on your sales, marketing and support teams, and the best way to start this is with your sales pipeline reports.

Hence, throw away that spreadsheet of yours into the trash and list all your leads and contacts in the CRM, you can count on us as one of the leading vendors of the best small and medium business CRM software , that you will not miss the spreadsheet for even a second once you start using this cutting-edge business growth tool.

Do More With Integration

Once you are convinced that easy to use CRM software platforms are your key for streamlining your sales pipeline, it is unfair on your part to expect a basic CRM to perform tasks like generating invoices, sending mass emails, automate your marketing efforts or make calls to your prospective leads.

However, the good thing is that there is a workaround.

Now if you are using a cloud-based CRM software, most of the third-party application providers nowadays provide APIs to integrate other business applications to your CRM.

In fact, to make things easier most of the CRM vendors provide these integrations by themselves.

Hence pick all the third-party apps like Gmail, Outlook, QuickBooks Online for accounting, PieSync, MailChimp, Zapier and more and look for their APIs for integration.

This is because once you integrate the easy to use CRM with these third-party tools there is no limit to what you can achieve with your CRM.

Now your easy to use CRM may not be your one-stop solution from the very first day you start using the software, but then again we all must remember that Rome was not even built in a day.

Embrace Automation

Like our saying or not, most people in this present world of digitalization is becoming more and lazier every passing day.

We expect our factories to run by themselves, our care to drive on their own. Rather say why leave a CRM behind when we expect robotics to do it for us, everything that is doable?

Now, most of the major CRM provides now offers marketing automation at an advanced level. Therefore modern CRM software solutions irrespective of whether it is Salesforce or any other Salesforce Alternative CRM platforms take some burden off your shoulders by automating processes and workflows using Sales Force Automation (SFA) integrated into the software.

Takeaway

Hence to conclude even though there is no guaranteed path to success while using an easy to use CRM software, nevertheless the above points do help a lot in making your CRM a successful investment and enjoy using the software for rapid business growth.

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How To Create The Right Strategy Once You Buy CRM For Business Growth

Maintaining a proper relationship with the customers is indeed an important aspect for the growth of any business. Therefore, to achieve certain benchmark for the things you require for your business growth, you need to follow a comprehensive easy to use CRM software strategy, since without it you just cannot maintain the right kind of relationship with your customers and leads, and achieve the goals you desire for your company. There has been a drastic change over the past few decades in the customer relationship, which we are about to discuss in this article below.

Maintaining a proper relationship with the customers is indeed an important aspect for the growth of any business. Therefore, to achieve certain benchmark for the things you require for your business growth , you need to follow a comprehensive easy to use CRM software strategy, since without it you just cannot maintain the right kind of relationship with your customers and leads, and achieve the goals you desire for your company.

23% of B2B CMOs see improving customer experience as a top three objective - Forrester(2019) Click To Tweet

There has been a drastic change over the past few decades in the customer relationship, which we are about to discuss in this article below.

The Makeover in the Nature of Customer Relationship

In the present world ruled by social media, customer relationship has seen a major change in its nature over the last decade or so.
Businesses nowadays over the course of time have realized that there is an ever-increasing opportunity for engagement with the customers through social media platforms that can be utilized effortlessly.

On the other hand, if any customer goes through any bad experience with any product or service, they can also very easily get the facts vocal in the social media to tarnish the image of the brand, which has led businesses to take customer relationship matters seriously.

In fact, the stellar growth of the social media platforms has lead to a massive increase in the interactions between the companies and the customers, as it is the easiest medium in the present times to raise awareness or to share both good and bad experiences online.

Therefore, in order to minimize the damage to customer relationship, businesses are nowadays resolving their customer issues as soon as possible to help redeem their lost reputations and thereafter grow a solid relationship with the consumers of the offerings.

Best CRM Strategy That We Must Follow

  • Set A Definite Goal

When you want to achieve something for your business, the primary thing you need to do is to set up your goals for yourself and your company. Try to visualize where you want to see yourself in the next 2 to 5 years.

Online lead management software or any best small and medium business CRM software is a platform that can easily help you to achieve both your personal and your company’s business goals. However, for the CRM strategy to be effective, you have to identify the goals first and understand what needs to be accomplished, or when you should decide how you must progress with the plan to arrive at your desired objectives.

By far, it is always a better idea to split up your goals into lesser but achievable objectives and at the same time maintain an easily reversible and flexible plan.

  • Always Keep Communicating With Co-Workers

Keeping an effective and constant communication with your co-workers, help in many occasions to resolve several critical issues.

Therefore, use a cloud based CRM software , be it an enterprise-level tool like Salesforce or any other Salesforce Alternative CRM used by SMBs, which is designed to handle a large amount of information and can facilitate communication between various workgroups.

Buy CRM , which ensures that all data is being shared between accounts, sales, marketing, and support departments to help them have a clear idea about the objectives of your company.

Hence, to get your job done, integrate policies and use business growth technology and tools that would benefit your organization in several ways.

  • Target Customers Wisely

If you cannot target your customers better, you may never be able to improve your business revenue. Therefore, in order to become a successful business establishment, you need to target your consumers wisely enough to help generate profits for your company.

Always remember returning customers are more valuable than new customers since they tend to spend more for your company.

Hence, you can use a cloud based CRM system, to identify your valuable customers and target them intelligently, by proper segmentation of such targeted customers, which is also a great strategy for building the right sales cadence for your sales team that can predict revenue growth.

  • Track The Interest Of Your Consumers

Keeping a comprehensive trail of your consumer’s interest is a valuable way for closing sales and wining deals for your company. Therefore, it is most important to analyze the kind of things that your leads, customers, and prospects shares or like across the social media channels for up-selling and cross-selling of your products and services.

The CRM database is the storehouse of customer interests in every stage of the customer journey with your brand.

Hence, synchronize everything in the CRM and revaluating your approaches by identifying weaknesses in your system, since properly evaluating the customer database in the CRM, help to identify the scope of improvement for your organization.

Conclusion

Therefore, now that you know what is CRM software, and how it can help in the implementation of your best CRM strategy and build up stronger relationships with your customers, buy CRM to quick pace your business growth.

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The Necessity Of CRM Data To Build The Right Sales Cadence For Business Growth

In this present world of ever-increasing data and information with respect to its variety and volume the challenge to understand, which customer database in CRM is valuable for your business growth is the cardinal point for starting revenue-generating sales and marketing solutions for your company. Now, whenever we discuss customer data residing inside your lead management software, the most often cited response is that…“all data in the CRM database is important”. Although this may be true, to help you in deciding which data elements are most necessary during the initial phases of building your customer relationships, can be illustrated by a method to evaluate and identify the value of each type of data for your business.

In this present world of ever-increasing data and information with respect to its variety and volume the challenge to understand, which customer database in CRM is valuable for your business growth is the cardinal point for starting revenue-generating sales and marketing solutions for your company.

With revenues expected to reach over $80 billion by 2025, it’s no surprise that CRM is the fastest growing software market - SuperOffice Click To Tweet

Now, whenever we discuss customer data residing inside your lead management software, the most often cited response is that…“all data in the CRM database is important”.
Although this may be true, to help you in deciding which data elements are most necessary during the initial phases of building your customer relationships, can be illustrated by a method to evaluate and identify the value of each type of data for your business.

With several implementations of online lead management software solutions, we have seen many types of data including “favorite color”; “pet names” and even “number of car seats and doors” all have prospective value to different buyer’s markets of best small and medium business CRM software .

While “pet names” can be an important data for pet supplies retailers using easy to use CRM , “favorite color” can be an essential data field for retails in the clothing industry and “the total number of car seats and doors” for users of business growth technology solutions like CRM in the motor insurance industry.

Therefore, when you primarily consider the necessity of each data element of the customer-related database in CRM, the ability to classify the data can help in determining how valuable the data is or in which phase of a sales cadence it should be delivered, if at all.

This following list provides examples of the data elements that can quickly identify the critical pieces of information, which are needed for creating customized sales cadence workflows and thereby accomplish your business goals from an array of different data sources.

The priority order of this data is as follows:

  1. Identity Data in CRM Database

In the heart of the customer database inside the easy to use CRM lays the individual, so knowing the customer or the individual and to view and maintain that information in a single customer view supplies the initial data type which is known as identity data.

Identity data can include any information about an individual that enables the individual to be uniquely identified, which include:

Name Information

Title, First Name (Forename), Last Name (Surname), Designation, etc.

Postal Address Information

Building Name, Building Number, Town, County, Zip/Postal Code, Country, etc.

Person Information

Date of Birth, Gender, etc.

Telephone Information

Home Telephone, Work Telephone, Mobile, etc.

Emailing Information

Personal Email, Work Email, etc.

Social Network Information

LinkedIn Identifier, Facebook Identifier, Twitter Address, etc.

Account Information

Details of your customer’s account ID or User ID.

Professional Information

Company Name, Department Name, Job Title, etc.

Permission and Suppression Data

Although this not essentially an identity element of data, it is important for finding information concerning permission to communicate and the reason for not communicating (suppressions).

  1. Quantitative Data in CRM Database

Now once you identify who these individual persons are in your CRM database , the next element is to find focus on the measurable operational data that enables you to find how the customer behaved, reacted or has transacted with your brand. This data includes any info, which describes the activities completed between the customer and your business.

Transactional Information (Offline and Online)

Quantity of products purchased, Subscription/Order Value, Renewal/Order dates, Abandonment rate (abandoned shopping), Product returns, etc.

Online Activity

Product views, Website visits, online registrations, etc.

Social Networking Activity

Twitter interactions, Facebook likes, etc.

Customer Support Information

Customer complaint details, Customer query details, etc.

  1. Descriptive Data in CRM Database

Knowing your customers and the type of activities they have completed with your brand provides a good starting point for any marketing activity, building your sales cadence for up-selling and cross-selling your offerings. Therefore, to find a more entire and broader perspective of your customer’s supplementary information, beyond the indemnity and quantitative details, you must include any info, which may include.

Family Details

Marital status, Name of Spouse, Number of children, Children’s age, etc.

Lifestyle Details

Property type, Car type, Pet ownership, etc.

Career Details

School name, College/University name, Education level, etc.

  1. Qualitative Data in CRM Database

The concluding type of data, which you will come across apart from the one, mentioned will provide additional description of your customers and their potential behaviors is the data acquired by information captured by questioners where your customers present data on motivation, attitude, and options that include.

Attitudinal information

How do you value our product, How do you rate our customer service, How likely you are to purchase our products and services again, etc.

Opinion based information

What is your favorite holiday destination, What is your favorite color, etc.

Motivational information

Why was the product purchased (personal use, a gift for someone), What was the key reason for purchasing our product (quality, price, locality), etc.

Takeaway

Using this easy data classification strategy and connecting them with your business goals, will not only enable you a quick identification of which data is vital for the success of your business, but it can also help you to understand the value achieved from each of this data element that helps in most advanced customer modeling, micro-segmentation of your customer base, and use an automated engine like Sales Force Automation (SFA) for building your sales cadence in your easy to use CRM platform.

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Half a Dozen Unassailable Ways to Boost Your Customer Retention Plans

Customers in modern times do not buy your products; instead, they buy your services. Therefore, once you provide your customers with the right products along with world-class service, they will surely come back for more. Hence, in the present times, customer retention is the topmost priority for any brand to improve cultural norms, increase its value, and boost revenue. According to a recent survey, it has been found that major corporate industry specialists agree that 90 percent of customers are the ultimate treasures for brands to keep for a lifetime. In fact, existing customers are not just mere customers but they are the true marketers of your brand.

Customers in modern times do not buy your products; instead, they buy your services. Therefore, once you provide your customers with the right products along with world-class service, using easy to use CRM software to assist in the process, they will surely come back for more.

Hence, in the present times, customer retention is the topmost priority for any brand to improve cultural norms, increase its value, and boost revenue.

According to a recent survey, it has been found that major corporate industry specialists agree that 90 percent of customers are the ultimate treasures for brands to keep for a lifetime. In fact, existing customers are not just mere customers but they are the true marketers of your brand.

80 percent of businesses surveyed rely on email marketing for customer retention. - SmallBizTrends Click To Tweet

Therefore irrespective of what you are selling the right customer support policies help to build an amazing relationship with our customers, as to them by providing world-class support you do not remain just a seller, but customers trust you with their hard earned money as you are capable of providing them value in return with your services.

There are even those customers who crossed your path once and never came back since there are chances that they might have found your service average or they may have been acquired by your competition, or they do not need your offerings anymore.

 

Now whatever be the scenario, return customers always brings the bulk of businesses, as your loyal customer and so here are six secrets by which you can encourage your existing customers to come back.

  1. Boost customer service

As we mentioned earlier, the customer buys your services even more than your offerings. Hence customer service is everything that makes or breaks any business.
Hence complains and feedbacks, both good and bad, are signs that your customer support department requires improvements.

Feedbacks are also important as it is a good sign that shows your customers wants your business to be perfect.

Therefore by being open for improvements and by providing the best possible service, you can assure your customers the gold standard of service which can be improved considerably by using easy to use CRM software for business growth.

  1. Offer loyalty discounts

Offering discounts to your existing customers to fill up your customer pool is a true and tried way to get them back. You can also entice your customers by introducing shopping credit points and loyalty vouchers that may help your existing customers for the next purchases.
After spending a certain amount or making a purchase for a certain number of times you can even offer your customers an incentive in form of gifts (as per your policy)  to keep them happy and return for more.

For companies that are dealing in big consumer durable markets, like digital appliances or furniture, another option for retaining customers is by offering free service to them for an extended specific period of time, which is one of the best ways to encourage them to come back.

  1. Advertise future deals

If you are using CRM software platforms like Salesforce, or even a Salesforce Alternative CRM mostly used by upstarts and small businesses, you can use marketing automation in the software to send emails to your existing customers on your upcoming deals or make them aware of future sales or promotions of your brand.

  1. Utilize social media

The power of mouth advertising strategy has always proved its worth and therefore social media is a perfect tool to get your customers back or even retain the existing ones.

As in this present digital world, most customers follow their preferred brands in social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others you can post regular updates of your business news, testimonials from your happy customers, product updates and even promotional offers to get your existing and new customers and prospects in your loop.

Also always remember to include all social media links in every post to boost the chances of being followed to your lead generation page.

  1. Respond to feedback

Responding to either negative and positive feedbacks or survey results provides your valuable customers a sense of your care and responsibility.

Therefore, thank your customers those who leave positive feedback, for using your products and trusting your services and listen to the needs for customers those are facing issues and satisfy them by providing free service.

Doing this not only encourages your unsatisfied customers to provide your business with another chance, but you can also use this opportunity to mark your brand as a caring company by converting unhappy customers into loyal advocates.

  1. Keep an eye on your competitors

The most common reason as to why most customers do not come back is that your competitor has taken them up with an edge.

Hence by having knowledge about your competitors’ activities, you can offer better deals to your customers and get them back within your fold.

For this analyze the gap in your market, play with your brand’s USPs (Unique Selling Points) and do not get caught up chasing the competition.

Wrapping Up

Be it in any business, retaining existing customers is never an easy task. This is because it is true that brands do not build their worth overnight.

However, if you have patience, a good team and using easy to use CRM for building and supporting customer relationships, you can easily take your existing customers back to your brand.

For this, just figure out your customer’s expectations and needs and make your moves accordingly.

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4 Golden Customer Retention Questions That You Must Ask Today

As owners of businesses, we create services and products that we think our customer needs and we also think that we know exactly what is needed by our customers. For example, as an owner of a fitness studio, one can easily think that its services are all about providing professionals who are busy otherwise, with an easy to way to get their cardio exercises done before and in the spare times after their work. However, in reality, it can be that loyal customers of the fitness studio go to the studio since it offers low impact fitness regimes that best fit older bodies. Now without asking this question all business owners, just like the owner of the fitness studio, will not know if the reason they developed their services are really the cause their customers are accepting their offerings.

In a recent survey done by PlanBeyond on owners of small businesses using easy to use CRM, more than 80 percent of those who participated in the survey felt optimistic about the businesses’ performance in 2019.

46 percent of sales teams report widespread use of CRM systems - Entrepreneur, (2018) Click To Tweet

In this same report, it has also been noted that 51 percent of the small business owners pointed to one critical factor behind this optimism: the presence of a strong existing customer base.
In fact, this motivation was larger than those that cited about the quality of their employees, or their marketing and sales plans, as reasons as to why their business will prosper this year more than it did before.

Now we all know retaining old and existing customers is of much larger importance than acquiring new ones.

Nevertheless, there are very few business owners that proactively seek inputs from their high-paying customers to know if their brand’s services are truly meeting all expectations that the customers demand from their brand.
Not to mention the fact that even fewer ask their customers as to what more their business can do for the customers and cater to their needs.

This is why taking time to ask these four most important questions is critical not to just retain your key customers but to also keep them totally satisfied with your offerings.

The 4 Golden Customer Questions

Question #1

What did motivate you to look for what you purchased from our brand?

As owners of businesses, we create services and products that we think our customer needs and we also think that we know exactly what is needed by our customers.
For example, as an owner of a fitness studio, one can easily think that its services are all about providing professionals who are busy otherwise, with an easy to way to get their cardio exercises done before and in the spare times after their work. However, in reality, it can be that loyal customers of the fitness studio go to the studio since it offers low impact fitness regimes that best fit older bodies.

Now without asking this question all business owners, just like the owner of the fitness studio, will not know if the reason they developed their services are really the cause their customers are accepting their offerings.

This misunderstanding, on the part of the owner, may make them spend more time, money and resources developing and launching additional services and products that are of no interest to the existing customers of the brand or even alienate their best customers which can result in unprecedented customer churn.

Therefore creating a customer survey using an easy to use CRM software , is one of the best ways businesses can understand the requirements of their customers which can help in retaining existing customers by providing them exactly what they need from your business.

Question #2

Why did you choose to purchase from our business?

Let us take the same fitness studio as an example.  It can be natural that there were many other fitness options in that locality, right from large gyms to smaller fitness outlets that cater to 1:1 personal training.
Still then, there must be something unique that led the said fitness studio’s customers to choose them.

Therefore, asking customers to identify the main and important features that make your brand and business stand apart is an ideal way to find what matters to them the most.

This is because, if you are armed with this information, you can easily make sure that your marketing teams can continuously hit on these key value propositions while finding new customers using easy to use CRM for lead generation and nurturing, and not focus your attention on features your business may offer that your customers are not interested in.

Question #3

What experience did you find positive with our business?

When something is working well for your company, make sure you ask your customers what they liked so that you can keep doing it well.

Going back to our fitness studio example, consider that the fitness studio is offering a power-lifting class. Now as an owner of the fitness studio by asking this above-stated question to your loyal customers, you might learn that most customers of your fitness studio appreciate that all the studio classes can be joined by people of different fitness levels and they like that your exercises can be modified to manage pre-existing injuries.

Now by asking this question, as an owner of your studio, you can quickly learn that power-lifting (which you thought about previously) would never be of interest to any of your existing customers but rather it can create misalignment with the services that your customers enjoy today.

Question #4

What can we do to provide you with better customer experience?

No matter how exceptional is your offerings, there are always several ways to do better or provide your consumers with more robust customer experience.

This is the exact reason why asking this question proactively matters since it is an excellent way to make sure that your customers are receiving complete customer satisfaction, as well as find out new opportunities where you can provide and up-sell additional products or services that your customers may want over time.

For example, going back to the fitness studio, let us assume that the studio’s classes begin from 8.30AM; however, its loyal customers frequently asked for early-morning classes. Now, by asking this question, the owner of the studio can learn that investing in early start times will help them to retain their best customers, as well as bring in new customers who want their services but at an earlier hour of the day.

When should you ask these golden questions?

If you are a user of an easy to use CRM, you must know that regularly keeping your pulse on the customer sentiment by evaluating and performing sentiment analysis using information stored in the CRM database is the key to business growth.

Therefore, once you are considering expanding your business, be it in terms of products or services or a physical expansion, and you want to be confident that any new decisions that you take on incremental investment you can ask these questions to your customers that will further delight your customers and attract new batch of loyalists and help your business to increase its bottom line.

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The Definition Of Customer Success In This Era Of Big Data

Even though the realm of customer success is an explored territory for more than a decade, however, it is only in the recent years the technology-based industry has recognized the value of CSM (Customer Success Methodology) initiatives. This is because the combination of SaaS (Software as a Service) and Big Data has created a perfect breeding place for maximizing customer relationships with the help of customer success programs, which has nowadays become analytics-driven and quantifiable that makes predictive modeling of customers possible using an easy to use CRM software.

Even though the realm of customer success is an explored territory for more than a decade, however, it is only in the recent years the technology-based industry has recognized the value of CSM (Customer Success Methodology) initiatives along with the growth in adoption of easy to use CRM software.

2% increase in upselling leads to a 28% increase in valuation - Goldman Sachs Click To Tweet

This is because the combination of SaaS (Software as a Service) and Big Data has created a perfect breeding place for maximizing customer relationships with the help of customer success programs, which has nowadays become analytics-driven and quantifiable that makes predictive modeling of customers possible using an easy to use CRM software.

Moreover, in the SaaS space which is presently flourishing with enterprises and consumers, CSM has become most essential, since SaaS businesses model can only work if their customers are times and again attaining their business objectives successfully.

This is because, in the old software world, the cost of acquiring a customer was recovered over a single transaction when a contract was signed, and so vendors of software solutions were not concerned whether their offering(s) was making the customers successful and hence as long as organizations kept signing deals, ‘shelfware’ (software) kept on being sold, irrespective of how customers react on the shelfware solution once it is out of their hands.

But in modern times, shelfware(s) does no longer exist in this fast-paced SaaS world.

Therefore, if a company is not finding value from its SaaS purchases today, it can (and certainly will) terminate that contract at the end of the billing period- irrespective of whether the billing cycle is of a year, quarter or a month.

Hence today in the SaaS space while happy customers mean a growth in business, unhappy customers can similarly lead to corporate collapse which makes CSM extremely important for SaaS businesses.

Now what does customer success look like in the SaaS space and what are the factors that signal a data-driven, and successful CSM program?

Well, the answer to this question is right below:

Low Churn Rates

Customer Churn is almost a killer in the SaaS space, and therefore customer success programs must address this cursed phenomenon first and foremost for finding business growth.

This is because even a small reduction in the churn rate for any SaaS business can lead to exorbitantly high returns.

For example, even just a 2% reduction in churn can lead to 20% higher multiples in valuation.

Therefore, after implementing a CSM program the clearest indicator of its success and effectiveness can be measured by viewing lower churn rates which can be easily monitored using an easy to use CRM software.

High Upsell/Recurring Revenue

The very opposite of customer churn is not acquisition, but its ‘retention’ for SaaS businesses.

This is because it is a well-accepted fact that the cost of acquiring a new customer (especially an enterprise-level customer) can take around 18 months to recoup, and therefore existing customers in SaaS businesses become more and more profitable once you have overcome their acquisition costs.

Therefore to become successful in SaaS, the recurring revenue from your existing customers must be of greater value than any new customer for finding rapid business growth.

Moreover, CSM programs should also aim at up-selling and cross-selling to their existing customers, which will also translate to increased revenue in the long haul.

According to a report published by Goldman Sachs:

“2% increase in upselling leads to a 28% increase in valuation.” – Which is just one more reason why SaaS companies those that excel in customer success should focus on retention of their customer base and hence use easy to use CRM to aid in their CSM programs.

Change from “Firefighting Mode”

Although this is not a quantifiable metric, nevertheless this is an indicator of CSM done right which can usher a shift from “firefighting mode” to proactive customer management in the company.

Even though most CSM programs are conducted to fight some form of churn, but real customer success, when it is done correctly, does not just douse the fire, it also acts as a proactive department in the organization that squashes customer-facing problems before they escalate and loops the VOC (Voice of the Customer) into the organization in a meaningful way.

Shift in Organizational Behavior

Perhaps the biggest and the most important of impeccable CSM program is a radical change in the behaviors of the employees in any organization.

This is because customer success is not the domain of any single department in any company since it can impact other aspects as well of the organization, which includes lowering the cost of acquiring customers through advocacy.

According to certain studies just a 12% increase in brand advocacy can easily double an organization’s revenue and growth rate.

Conclusion

Therefore in a gist, companies that are seeking to attain true customer success for their businesses must adopt CSM throughout their establishment, since irrespective of whether any department is directly involved with the customers, in the end, everyone in your business benefits when customers continue to do business with your brand.

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New Trends to Boost Your Best Small Business CRM in 2019

With the arrival of 2019, different kinds of easy to use CRM software (even Salesforce Alternative CRM software solutions) are predicted to go through substantial overhauls and renovations- in terms of better intelligence, enhanced automation, new integrations and much more. Hence, the transformation in the cloud based CRM industry for small businesses is as good as its ability to gear up with the latest trends in the software industry, which consequentially makes us look at a number of new features that will surely revolutionize the way we use easy to use best small business CRM today.

Best small business CRM software solutions in modern times are all about better supporting and serving the customers during their journey.
Modern CRM for small businesses software platforms empower startups and small business establishments to form an emotional bonding with their prospects and customers by looking out for their best interests as a consumer of their offerings. Additionally easy to use CRM software solutions also ensures the customer-facing employees of an organization to find the right information and data from their best small business CRM software about their customers at the right time, so that they can better focus on nurturing relationships.

The Service Desk Institute has found that more than 80 percent of IT departments are using self-service as a way to meet this need. Click To Tweet

Just like any other advancements in technology with every passing year, easy to use CRM software is also undergoing futuristic transformations, bringing new innovations and simplifications to this three-lettered workplace, within an entire organization.
Therefore, be it marketing, sales, accounts, operations, or even event management and collaborations, modern best small business CRM like ConvergeHub can only get better and smarter.

With the arrival of 2019, different kinds of easy to use CRM software (even Salesforce Alternative CRM software solutions) are predicted to go through substantial overhauls and renovations- in terms of better intelligence, enhanced automation, new integrations and much more.

Hence, the transformation in the cloud based CRM industry for small businesses is as good as its ability to gear up with the latest trends in the software industry, which consequentially makes us look at a number of new features that will surely revolutionize the way we use easy to use best small business CRM today.

  1. Automatic Workflows and Intuitive User-Interface Reconfiguration

Using AI (Artificial Intelligence), modern best small business CRM software platforms will be able to adjust workflows more effectively and perform with lesser turn-around time.

This will be done by using technologies like AI and machine learning- two of the most advanced technologies that can simulate human behaviors using a non-human entity.

By learning and understanding the usage patterns and trends of the users, easy to use CRM software for small businesses and startup organizations will automatically take over mundane repetitive tasks and even adapt the user interfaces to individual usage based on their usage patterns.

Manash Chaudhuri (CTO of ConvergeHub- The #1 Easiest Converged CRM for SMB) remarks:

“At ConvergeHub, we are in the process of incorporating AI and Machine Learning into the future of our sales and marketing tools. Using AI in the sales and marketing processes creates a more tailored and user-specific experience for the buyers and can help small business organizations get found by more prospective customers, convert more new leads and thereby sell their products and services to more customers.”

  1. CRM at the Center of an Omni-channel Approach

Nowadays, more than six touch points are needed before any typical sale, which happens across several channels.
According to us as small business CRM vendor and consultants, we have realized that simply initiating touch points across multiple channels is not enough- rather the consistency of customer experience is what that really counts as much as the breadth of engagement.

Therefore, the fewer touch points that you use the better will be your sales process as a small business organization.
Hence, in 2019 easy to use CRM platforms will proactively look towards ramping up their integration algorithms and API with the objective of attaining leaner and tighter integrations with external services and tools.

In the modern times, easy to use cloud based CRM software systems are therefore evolving to serve as the never center for this omnichannel approach, unifying mobile marketing, landing pages, social campaigns, customer support ticketing, sales calls, accounting processes and other channels into a coherent whole.

In the recent times in 2018, ConvergeHub has integrated QuickBooks online, with its CRM systems, and is now one of the most popular QuickBooks CRM in the small business CRM marketplace, offering QuickBooks CRM integration free.

  1. Self-Service via easy to use CRM platforms

One particular channel that will witness a stellar growth and deeper integration with CRM for small and medium businesses- is self service.

While Gartner predicts that by 2020:

“A customer will manage 85% of the relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human, so make sure to give your customers the direction and tools they need to accomplish tasks themselves.“

In another whitepaper published by ZenDesk states:

“50% of customers think it’s important to solve product or service issues themselves and 70% expect a company’s website to include a self-service application.“

In 2019 it is predicted that more than half of the modern consumers are likely to abandon an online purchase if they cannot get an answer to their questions quickly.

According to Forrester Research:

“The Service Desk Institute has found that more than 80 percent of IT departments are using self-service as a way to meet this need.”

Therefore, the link between easy to use CRM and self-service is a natural one as CRM application when integrated with ChatBots is capable of customizing self-service interactions and render a customer care feedback loop that sales, marketing, and support teams can also tap into in real-time as and when it is needed.

Hence, small and medium business CRM software vendors like ConvergeHub have also taken into notice the need for customer-service integration and self-service in particular, which is on a rise.

  1. From CRM to Social CRM

The transition to easy to use social CRM is imminent. Engaging customers by creating virtual communities is a more pertinent way that will be the new trend in social media marketing.
Therefore, it is predicted that in 2019 and beyond these communities and social media as a whole will take a greater shape as an important element within all best small business CRM software platforms.

Since being social will not only help businesses interact more closely with their consumers, but it will also provide hitherto unseen insights into customer’s buying patterns and their behaviors, which in turn will enhance to the lead nurturing capability of the easy to use CRM for small business in a big way.

  1. Enhanced Mobility

Customers of easy to use CRM for small businesses are no longer bound to their PCs and are constantly accessing data on the go. Therefore, customer support resources and front line sales and marketing employees will be increasingly empowered by mobile devices for support.

In 2019 we should also see NLP (Natural Language Processing) making its way into best small business CRM software platforms as a precursor to adding functionalities such as recording minutes of the meetings, updating records, and several other voice-based interactions that can revolutionize the way we interact with cloud based CRM software technology today.

Finally- On-premises CRM has become the exception

Adoption of cloud based CRM for startups and small and medium businesses used to be a tough sell.
However, that is no longer the case.

According to our research, we found that 80 percent of all new CRM purchases are in the cloud.

This is because not only finding sufficient talents and vendor support to maintain these on-premise legacy systems will become more difficult to find over time but the increasing need to access the CRM software from multiple locations and devices has also led to the rise of using cloud based CRM solutions in small businesses.

Therefore, if privacy protection was an obstacle to cloud based CRM adoption in the past, after the enforcement of the GDPR rules, this year may be the time to look again for cloud based CRM in the market for better and deeper interactions with your leads, prospects, and customers.

Do you want 2019 to be the year where you achieve massive revenue growth?

Then start planning NOW.

Create your revenue growth strategy for 2019.

If you would like to get some ideas or brainstorm on how ConvergeHub can provide the right technology to achieve your company’s marketing and sales goals, and retain your existing customers by enhancing customer’s experience with your brand, you can reserve a confidential consultation with one of our experts.

On this 30-45 minute call we will:

  • Take a deep-dive into your business process
  • Pinpoint areas with most growth potential
  • Discuss how to implement an effective marketing automation system that lets you focus on the most important tasks

Click here to check out how you can achieve your sales growth plans in 2019!

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Avoid CRM Disasters With This Ultimate Easy To Use CRM Checklist

Did you just invest a few thousand dollars in purchasing a brand new easy to use CRM software system, only to find that it does not solve the pain points and aches that are holding your business back? Well if it is so, we can assure that you are not alone. This has happened several times to many businesses big and small- nevertheless, it does not have to be so all the time. Read to know why does even easy to use CRM implementations Fail?

Did you just invest a few thousand dollars in purchasing a brand new easy to use CRM software system, only to find that it does not solve the pain points and aches that are holding your business back?
Well if it is so, we can assure that you are not alone.
This has happened several times to many businesses big and small- nevertheless, it does not have to be so all the time.

Less than 40% of businesses have a CRM adoption rate over 90%- CSO Insights Click To Tweet

Why Does Even Easy To Use CRM Implementations Fail?

  1. So many features, but not the right ones

It may be a flashy interface, new gamification features, and a lot more functionalities that you never knew you wanted, but does not actually offer the features you need on a regular basis to run your business.
Therefore, while choosing your easy to use CRM software , you need to work with a plan.
Find out what are the business problems you are planning to solve, know your goals, and always make sure that they are measurable, before choosing your easy to use CRM system that can address to those unique pain points and needs.

  1. The pricing of the software is eating into your profits

You have chosen an easy to use CRM software, that exceeds what your organization can afford. Therefore, while the benefits of using a CRM solution for your business can always increase your sales. However, it takes a longer time to build up those crucial customer relationships. Therefore, an easy to use but at the same instance, expensive CRM software can bring your business to a halt even before your sales start rolling in and eat away your profits.

  1. Promising the world

If you know what is CRM , always remember that this is a CRM system, which is just a tool and can never be a magic pill. Successful easy to use CRM implementations depends a lot on your employee’s eagerness to learn how to use the CRM software, keep all the records up to data in the CRM database, and your every employee’s commitment towards this customer-centric approach to the business.
Hence, set reasonable goals, and thereafter work with determination to exceed them. This will not only keep your team’s morale high but also help your business to grow at a steady pace.

  1. Too quickly too much change

After investing money and time on an easy to use CRM implementation, some entrepreneurs may get tempted to discard that their employees were using beforehand and push the employees to use the new CRM system. Nevertheless, whatever that you do, always understand that too much change in a small span of time can leave your team confused, and thereby make your customer service suffer the dire consequences.

Therefore, start rolling out the new features in your just purchased CRM system that makes it easier and more satisfying for your employees to do their jobs. Replace gruesome, routine tasks and manual workarounds with system automation and you can be sure your employees will start using the new software more quickly. Many easy to use CRM systems like ConvergeHub also includes a series of integrations , so that your old business software solutions like Gmail, DocuSign, MailChimp, DropBox, Ring Central, and others can seamlessly connect to the new system, which makes it easier to work for your staffs, making the CRM implementation more successful for your company.

  1. Not everyone is present on board

Finally, CRM is not just a tool but also a business strategy, and so like any other business strategy to work, everyone in your organization has to follow a singular goal. Per se, executives in your company and the users of the easy to use CRM software must willingly remain on board to learn and use the new customer relationship management software.
This factor in successful CRM implementation is absolutely necessary as it helps in creating a lot of less friction if everyone in an organization agrees to use the new CRM software in the first place.

Conclusion

Now that you are aware of what not to do, let us make your easy to use CRM implementation a success, as here at ConvergeHub, we have mined and worked with myriads of inquiries, customer data, and surveys to offer you with the most comprehensive Converged CRM system, and the CRM requirement checklist.
This is because of the fact- we are aware that the devil lurks in the details of implementation of the easy to use CRM software platform.

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Steps To Stronger Customer Loyalty Using An Easy To Use CRM Platform

With the present time’s ever-expanding market, consumers have no dearth of options to choose from when determining their loyalty towards a brand. Therefore, when customer feedbacks are not asked for or not taken seriously customers tend to jump at the chance to find a brand that prioritizes it. We hope these four strategies will help you understand the feedbacks of your customers in a more evocative way, and thereby help drive greater customer loyalty by using an easy to use CRM and through your digital experience.

In modern times, customers have never-ending options when it comes to choosing new brands, products, or services. This means that the customer’s expectations are extremely high in the present times, which calls for immediacy, responsiveness, personalization, product quality that are some of the key reasons customers which will make the consumers choose to be loyal to a brand over another.
However, one major element that holds the key to solidifying customer loyalty and consequently increase earnings is correctly leveraging customer feedback with the help of a easy to use CRM for the growth of your business.

Therefore, here are 4 sure-shot tactics to help strengthen your customer loyalty through consumer feedbacks.

Customers who have engaged actively with a brand remain 4 times more likely to use the brand’s products and services even after three months following their initial contact.- ConvergeHub Click To Tweet
  1. Remain Proactive

Customers are hard-pressed to leave feedback in any form, but we often forget that there are real people on both ends of the exchange. Hence, though most brands think that they are building products and services around their customers, nevertheless in reality researches show that businesses only hear from less than 1% of their customer base (which we call as the vocal minority) and the rest 99% customers becomes the ‘silent majority’, whereby their feedbacks and loyalty are nor fostered or prioritized.

According to a study published by a leading market survey organization, it has been acknowledged that customers who have engaged actively with a brand remain 4 times more likely to use the brand’s products and services even after three months following their initial contact.

Providing a place for receiving feedback from the customer is a great way to start, although most consumers only reach out unprompted if they have an issue that needs help to be fixed. Therefore, to get in front of the customer, you need to make a proactive effort to show how important their customer feedbacks are for your business.

To do this, it is best to proactively engage the customers throughout their digital experience, whereby you can start with a simple survey asking a few questions about their recent experience with your brand, which can be easily done if you are using an easy to use CRM software, showing your customers that you care.

  1. Engage at the right moment

Now that we know that it is needed to engage the customers, let us discuss what is the ‘right moment” within a digital experience and how it actually looks like.

Encouraging feedback from the customers is all about starting a conversation with the consumers, and therefore, asking for a feedback at the right moment is needed to give this conversation the best opportunity to begin.

To do this it is crucial that you understand your customer’s journey and pick up the best point for communication (e.g. if they view a certain page, after a customer has completed a purchase, when they complete a level, etc.) and find the right time to ask for the feedback.

However, it must be remembered that you need to remain conservative on how often you ask for the feedback and that you should give the customers sufficient time to engage with their experience with your offerings, before you ask for their feedback using an easy to use CRM, for the first time.

  1. Listen (really listen) to feedback

It has been found that far too often; businesses do not take actions based on the feedback the customers provide to the companies.

Now, it must be remembered that a lack of communication can affect both brand loyalty and the customer’s willingness to provide feedback in the future.

Therefore, it is most important for customers to feel heard when they provide a feedback, which can be validated in the following ways:

Say thank you

Always reply with a big “thanking you” message even if you have heard the same feedback for a million times or the feedback was incredibly rude.

Follow up

Always follow up with your consumers after they leave their feedbacks, and consider providing them something free for their valuable time, for customers who may have larger issues.

Be honest

Sometimes it is not possible to solve a problem on the spot. Hence, if a customer leaves feedback around an issue that is in a low priority level or cannot be solved, be honest and tell them why.

Provide Credit

Always give credit where it is due by giving thanks to your customers who brought your attention to an issue with your products or services. Taking a step further by personally calling those who provided such vital feedbacks and offering them thanks privately, often makes even those customers who get their problems solved become some of your biggest fans.

Remember that whether the sentiment is negative or positive, customer feedback is critically valuable and should always be considered as an opportunity to know how you can make a better product for your customers.

  1. Measure your brand’s progress

Executing a strategy always helps in improving your customer’s experience with your brand, and therefore drives loyalty in the primary part of the battle. However, measuring success is also equally important, since without tracking your success you will never be able to measure the progress that you have made.

If you are using an easy to use CRM software like ConvergeHub, consider following these five metrics for measuring the effectiveness of your customer’s experience over time.

– Average session length

-The bounce rate of various pages and email campaigns

-Frequency of sessions

-Track customer sentiment through NPS (Net Promoter Score)

-Activity per sessions

Conclusion

With the present time’s ever-expanding market, consumers have no dearth of options to choose from when determining their loyalty towards a brand. Therefore, when customer feedbacks are not asked for or not taken seriously customers tend to jump at the chance to find a brand that prioritizes it.

We hope these four strategies above will help you understand the feedbacks of your customers in a more evocative way, and thereby help drive greater customer loyalty by using an easy to use CRM and through your digital experience.

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If you have other ways that you have used for strengthening customer feedback, please share your thoughts in the comments below.